About the Montclair Watercooler

The Montclair Watercooler is primarily a Yahoo hosted group where members post and reply to messages about "Things Montclair". The Montclair Watercooler also supports a Facebook group called Watercooler Connections where members (or others - you need not join both) may join and do the same, or discuss other topics beyond the scope of Montclair. The Watercooler Connections group provide access to the more feature rich environment of Facebook for our members. Both groups are moderated (although the Facebook one a bit more loosely). The 'Cooler is a Montclair community resource run by volunteers who passionately support the benefits for all that can be gained by the sharing of information about our town. Enjoy!

A Little History

The first message on the Montclair Watercooler has somehow gone missing, but you can pull up #2 by our list creator, Mary Delaney Krugman. The list was started back in May of the year 2000. For a little context, that was just about a year before the first iPod, never mind the iPhone which didn't arrive until 2007. Many computing tasks back then were still done on mainframes.

Mary created the Montclair Watercooler back then as a place where (from post #2) "interested folks can discuss their interests and concerns as much (or as little) as they like. You can even just sit by and listen ... although it is much more fun to participate. All viewpoints can be shared on a timely basis." The list has had its ups and downs since way beck when, but it still exists and is still the preeminent online location where anyone in or with an interest in Montclair can share what they have to say about things Montclair.

Back in September of 2001 (around message# 5700), the Watercooler saw many impassioned and posts about the tragic events in NY, PA and DC. In fact, that time nearly also resulted in the closure of the list as it became a bit too angry. We credit our Moderator Emeritus, Jean Kidd, with the wisdom and suggestion that we tighten up the civility rules and pull topics back to a local Montclair focus. The nature of online communication has of course changed very much since the early days. We all now rely heavily on text messages and all sorts of apps to share photos, video, and short messages, and anonymous bulletin boards exist where you can post what you want and not be held accountable. The 'Cooler is a bit of a throw back in that it encourages more substantive content from our members and we ask that everyone know on another via an introduction.

As we look to the future of the Montclair Watercooler, it is our goal to continue to provide you a safe and enjoyable forum for you to communicate "over the back fence" with your neighbors in the Montclair community. Thanks!